Child resistant safety cap closure assembly for a container

ABSTRACT

A cap closure and peripheral neck for any container which is child resistant since it requires a combination downward and twisting motion to either open or close the cap closure. A sloping camming surface in the peripheral groove portion of the cap assists in the closing action. The cap may be provided with a finger tab that projects upwardly from a dished central portion of the cap closure, thereby making it more difficult for children to grasp and open and close the cap closure. A resilient flange on either the cap or container biases said cap in an upward direction. An abutment stop in the neck portion prevents overstressing the resilient flange and indicates when to rotate on opening. A vertical stop in cap indicates when cap is ready to be totally removed.

United States Patent Schultz 1541 CHILD RESISTANT SAFETY CAP CLOSURE ASSEMBLY FOR A CONTAINER [72] Inventor: Robert S. Schultz, PO. Box 56, Old

Greenwich, Conn. 06870 22 Filed: June30, 1971 21] Appl. No.: 158,274

[52] US. Cl. ..2l5/9, 215/50, 220/40 S [51] Int. Cl. ..A61j 1/00, B65d 55/02 [58] Field of Search ..2l5/9, 50, 44; 220/40 S [56] References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,587,896 6/1971 Graff; ..21'5/9 3,017,049 1/1962 Powell 3,604,583 9/1971 Linkletter ..2l5/9 1 Dec.5, 1972 Primary Examiner-George T. Hall Att0rney-Alfred E. Miller [5 7] ABSTRACT A cap closure and peripheral neck for anylcontainer which is child resistant since it requires a combination downward and twisting motion to either open or close the cap closure. A sloping camming surface in the peripheral groove portion of the cap assists in the closing action. The cap may be provided with a finger tab that projects upwardly from a dished central portion of the cap closure, thereby making it more difficult for children to grasp and open and close the cap closure. A resilient flange on either the cap or container biases said cap in an upward direction. An abutment stop in the neck portion prevents overstressing the resilient flange and indicates when to rotate on opening. A vertical stop in cap indicates when cap is ready to be totally removed.

8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHEC 5 1972 I 3. 704.802

INVENTOR.

QOBERT S. SCHUET Z gja.

ORNEY CHILD RESISTANT SAFETY CAP CLOSURE ASSEMBLY FOR A CONTAINER The present invention relates to a child resistant, safety cap closure assembly for any container for both liquids and solids, which are potentially dangerous and harmful.

Reference is made to co-pending application Ser. No. l 16,766 of Daniel P. Duffy, which is assigned to a common assignee. In this application a child resistant safety cap closure and container is shown and described in which a cap closure and container are provided with inwardly projecting locking bars that fit into complementary locking slots in the cap. The latter is further provided with an upstanding tab for opening and closing the container or bottle with some degree of difficulty for a child.

An object of the present invention is to providean improvement over the co-pending application to said Daniel P. Duffy by increasing the degree of difficulty of manipulating the cap by children, and to further make operation of the cap closure more positive and reliable for adults.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap closure and container combination seal that is waterproof.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a cap closure that is suitable for insertion in cardboard containers, metal cans, or any other packages.

An object of the present invention is to provide a finger tab in the cap closure which is recessed in the dished out top of the cap thereby increasing the degree of difficulty of manipulation by children and allowing a flat seal to make container tamper proof.

And still another object of the present invention is to provide a stop member which co-acts with an adjacent abutment to establish a positive stop for the downward movement of the closure cap in the container neck portion and two vertical stop members in the cap which co-act with an abutment in the neck portion to establish a positive stop in the rotation of said cap in either direction, indicating when cap is in position to remove entirely from neck on opening and also preventing rotation in wrong direction.

The present invention will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of safety child resistant closure cap constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the neck of the container for a closure cap showing the projections in the interior of the container which interfit with complementary recesses in the closure cap.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the closure cap and its associated container.

FIG. 4 is a modification of the structure shown in FIG. 3 in which the bottom annular flange of the closure cap is seated in an annular groove in the associated container.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention incorporating a dished closure cap.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the structure shown-in FIG. 5. I

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a modification of the structure shown in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. l-3, the cap closure assembly comprises a cap referred to generally by the numerallO in FIG. 1 and provided with spaced peripheral grooves 12, each of which has an upwardly sloping camming protrusion 14, vertical stops 15, and a locking slot 16. A finger tab 18 protrudes upwardly from the flat top surface 20 of the cap 10. Depending downwardly from the cap 10 is an annular resilient flange 22. FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the neck portion of the container or vial 24 in which a plurality of spaced locking projections 26 are shown protruding inwardly from the interior surface 28 of the container neck portion. Also located on the interior surface 28 is an annular shelf 30 for receiving the edge 22a of the resilient flange 22 on the cap 10 and an annular abutment 29.

The cap 10 is inserted in the container 24 with a downward motion whereby the locking projections 26 on the container pass through the aligned openings 12a in the grooves 12 in the cap 10. The cap 10 is thereafter twisted in a clockwise direction and the locking projections 26 ride up the camming protrusions 14 until the projections snap into the adjacent locking slots 16. It should be noted that the bottom edge 21 of the cap 10 is prevented from being depressed downwardly more than the required distance to operated by the annular abutment 29, as seen in FIG. 3, and the vertical stops 15 restrict lateral motion of cap 10 to facilitate operation.

FIG. 4 shows another configuration for the container 24 in which the shelf shown in FIG. 3 is replaced by a rather deep annular groove 32. The edge 22a of the flange 22 is adapted to firmly fit in the groove, and as the cap is rotated to close, the edge of the flange is even further wedged in the groove 32, thereby essentially creating a waterproof closure.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show further modifications of the present invention as disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2 in which like parts bear like reference numerals and wherein the cap 10 has a dished central section 36 that is provided with an upstanding finger tab 38 which does not protrude above the top surface of the cap. The latter forms an assembly with insert 40 having a resilient annular flange 42 which is adapted to seat in the annular notch 44 on the bottom of the cap 10. This cap closure assembly arrangement is particularly suited for cardboard and metal containers where a flat surface may be desired.

The cap assembly of FIG. 7 is similar to the structure shown in FIG. 6 except that the cap 10 is provided with an annular flange 46 on the bottom thereof. The edge 46a of the flange is seated on the shelf 48 of the insert 50. The cap closure assembly arrangement herein is also suitable for use in containers where a flat surface may be desired. Both cap assemblies in FIGS. 6 and 7 lend themselves to a tamper proof sealing means 60, as shown in FIG. 6 to enhance protection.

Although it is contemplated that the present safety cap closure assembly will be fabricated of a plastic, such as polypropelene, it is within the scope of the invention to manufacture the component parts of the device of any suitable material which results in a reliable safety closure that meets government specifications and regulations.

What is claimed is:

l. A closure cap assembly for a container, comprising a pair of mating members, one of the members being provided with elongated, lateral extending grooves, a camming surface in each of said grooves, a locking slot adjacent to said camming surface, an abutment surface on said one member serving as a positive stop for said other member when the latter is depressed downwardly, and substantially vertical walls at opposite ends of said grooves serving as positive stops when said cap is rotated in either direction, and said projections being cammed on said camming surfaces into adjacent locking slots.

2. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said one member is located in the neck of the container while said other member is the closure cap.

3. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein said one member is molded in the neck of said container. 4

4. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 2,

wherein said closure cap is dished, and a finger piece in said dished portion projects upwardly therefrom.

5. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein bottom outer edge of said closure cap engages said abutment surface in said neck to limit downward motion of cap.

6. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein said closure cap is provided with lateral grooves, the leading and trailing edges of which limit the lateral motion of said cap in either direction by interaction with sides of projections in said neck.

7. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein said neck of the container is provided with an annular groove in which the edge of said resilient flange fits to render the assembly substantially waterproof.

8. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein said finger piece extends up to the top surface of said closure cap.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,704,802 Dated December 5, 1972 Inventor) Robert S. Schultz It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Claim 1, line 3, after "with", insert the following:

-projections and other of said members being provided Signed and sealed this 15th day of May 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER, JR. 7 ROBERT GOT'ISCHALK Attesting Officer- Commissioner of Patents FORM PO-IOSO (10-69) v I USCOMM-DC scan-pus fi u.s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE I!" O-dlj-lM- 

1. A closure cap assembly for a container, comprising a pair of mating members, one of the members being provided with elongated, lateral extending grooves, a camming surface in each of said grooves, a locking slot adjacent to said camming surface, an abutment surface on said one member serving as a positive stop for said other member when the latter is depressed downwardly, and substantially vertical walls at opposite ends of said grooves serving as positive stops when said cap is rotated in either direction, and said projections being cammed on said camming surfaces into adjacent locking slots.
 2. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said one member is located in the neck of the container while said other member is the closure cap.
 3. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein said one member is molded in the neck of said container.
 4. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein said closure cap is dished, and a finger piece in said dished portion projects upwardly therefrom.
 5. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein bottom outer edge of said closure cap engages said abutment surface in said neck to limit downward motion of cap.
 6. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein said closure cap is provided with lateral grooves, the leading and trailing edges of which limit the lateral motion of said cap in either direction by interaction with sides of projections in said neck.
 7. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein said neck of the container is provided with an annular groove in which the edge of said resilient flange fits to render the assembly substantially waterproof.
 8. A closure cap assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein said finger piece extends up to the top surface of said closure cap. 